10 Hot Photography Tips and Tutorials from 2008

It is that time of year when we look back on the hottest photography tips and tutorials that featured on Digital Photography School in 2008. This list is compiled purely looking at which of our tips and tutorials got the biggest number of visitors to it over the 12 months.

This post first featured on DPS in 2006 so I was a little surprised to see it ranked so highly for traffic in 2008 but it had a resurgance in popularity mid year when it appeared on a variety of social media sites.

The post talks readers through the steps of taking a normal digital image and giving it a lomography looking effect using photoshop.

The tutorial continues to attract lots of visitors and is regularly mentioned on other photography resource sites. Enjoy.

Light trails are one of the more spectacular types of shots and yet they are also one of the simplest to take (if you know what you’re doing).

This tutorial contains some inspirational examples of light trail photography and talks readers through a variety of tips on getting the full impact of this technique.

It covers everything from camera settings to equipment and tips on setting up the shot and composition. There are also some great comments on this thread with lots of readers sharing links to their own examples of light trail photography.

Written by one of our most popular authors – Natalie Norton – this tutorial talks readers through 6 different techniques for keeping their camera as still as possible while taking a photo (all without using a tripod).

This topic sounds pretty basic but it is really important to get right or you’ll end up with ‘camera shake’ and blurry images.

Natalie always injects a little humor into her posts in this one was no different with some amusing illustrations of her showing how to do each technique.

Readers responded warmly to this tutorial and it spread like wildfire through social bookmarking sites like Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon.

This is another of those older tutorials on the DPS blog that just keeps on growing in popularity.

Do it Yourself type articles are always popular and in this one of our forum members (Jeff Bail) talks us through the simple process of creating a light tent out of common every day (and cheap) materials.

We’re all looking to save a few dollars these days so its no wonder that this tutorial was popular. Not only will it save you money but it works and can help you create professional looking images!

Some of the most common questions I get from readers are about wedding photography.

As a result I decided earlier in the year that I just had to write this post – a comprehensive guide to wedding photography for Amateur photographers.

What I love about this tutorial is that there are as many good tips in the comments section of the post as the post itself – DPS readers are a wise group of people and collectively have an amazing amount of wisdom, experience and advice.

Every year in the lead up to 4th of July and to a lesser extend New Years Eve – the chart that we use to graph traffic to DPS spikes – as a result of this post.

Photographing fireworks is a lot of fun and in this tutorial I share my top 10 tips for getting great fireworks shots. I’ve also updated the post with some great tips from our reader community who have some excellent experiences and advice to share.

I hope you’ve enjoyed tracking with us at DPS in 2008. Whether you’ve been with us all year or only just discovered our community we want to thank you for visiting and wish you and yours a Happy New Year.

We’re looking forward to producing more photography tips and tutorials like the ones featured above as we move into 2009 and look forward to learning more with you in the new year!

I’d like to see some tips on taking photos in snow. (Daylight, night, snowstorms, etc.)

Slava33

This is my favorite photography site, great job! My one suggestion for next year: please, label the posts with dates and author, otherwise posts like “top 10 cameras” quickly loose relevance as new cameras come out.

Thanks for this, there are a couple that I had missed so I’m glad to read them.

Honestly, I have never found another photography website as helpful as this one. I can’t thank you enough for all the learning opportunities I’ve had here at DPS. Happy new year!

marieg

I love it here…I think I’ll stay.

Savanah

This is isn’t a comment so much as a question for you, as you seem SUPER knowledgeable and I am just beginning to becomce interested in “interesting” photographs. I am on a tight budget and was wondering what kinds of digital cameras you might recommend, say for under $200. I realize i cannot get an extremely amazing camera for that much, but I would like something decent with which i can employ the techniques laid out in this article. Or, if possible, is there an article, or do you have some tips, specifically dealing with DPS Cameras that perhaps don’t have as many options on them? (My current digital camera is quite old, pretty much outdated, but still takes some nice photos.)
Thank you for your time in reading this,
Savanah

Some Older Comments

Thanks - Enjoyed this post, how can I make is so that I get an update sent in an email when you write a fresh article?

mrlooMarch 18, 2010 09:13 pm

I read a couple of this article and I'm getting back my interests in photography. I wish I can get out of this place and go back to the real world and try these tutorials.

SavanahSeptember 12, 2009 01:05 am

This is isn't a comment so much as a question for you, as you seem SUPER knowledgeable and I am just beginning to becomce interested in "interesting" photographs. I am on a tight budget and was wondering what kinds of digital cameras you might recommend, say for under $200. I realize i cannot get an extremely amazing camera for that much, but I would like something decent with which i can employ the techniques laid out in this article. Or, if possible, is there an article, or do you have some tips, specifically dealing with DPS Cameras that perhaps don't have as many options on them? (My current digital camera is quite old, pretty much outdated, but still takes some nice photos.)
Thank you for your time in reading this,
Savanah

mariegJanuary 3, 2009 01:45 pm

I love it here...I think I'll stay.

SherryJanuary 2, 2009 08:24 am

Thanks for this, there are a couple that I had missed so I'm glad to read them.

Honestly, I have never found another photography website as helpful as this one. I can't thank you enough for all the learning opportunities I've had here at DPS. Happy new year!

Slava33January 1, 2009 06:38 am

This is my favorite photography site, great job! My one suggestion for next year: please, label the posts with dates and author, otherwise posts like "top 10 cameras" quickly loose relevance as new cameras come out.

Keep up the good work!

SusannahJanuary 1, 2009 06:36 am

Useful list; I went back to re-read a couple.

I'd like to see some tips on taking photos in snow. (Daylight, night, snowstorms, etc.)

Rosh- New media photographerJanuary 1, 2009 12:41 am

Good variety of topics. Obviously, DPS readers have multiple interests and are eager to learn about different aspects of photography.

I recall the discussions on the business of photography getting rather heated. But, important. Of course, weddings are always a hot topic.